My Duty
by nastories
Summary: A Little bit of Knuckles x Shade in there. Sonic and friends just returned from their journey at the Twilight Cage. Everyone hopes to retake their lives peacefully, but for the newest member of the gang, there is no life to retake.
1. Slow starter

*riiing* *riiiing* *riii-Bam!* On the night stand stood an alarm clock, silenced by the crash of a giant hammer. Amy Rose shook on the bed, not wanting to get up from it. You might think she was being lazy, but she had a fair reason to be tired.

While the rest of the world was oblivious about it, Sonic and the rest of the gang just returned after probably their craziest adventure yet: they went inside a dimensional prison called the Twilight Cage and barely escaped with all the emeralds, including the Master Emerald. Sadly, that was only the beginning of it. Because time travels in a different manner inside that dimension, several years had gone by on their home dimension. When they returned, the world had being conquered by the nefarious doctor Eggman.

So, they lost the emeralds after having to abandon the ship they came in. Then they accidentally got separated, but in the way they found the remaining members of a resistance and, with time, encountered Silver the hedgehog and, with his help, time-traveled back to their time. As far as anyone knows, they weren't gone a single minute. But, poor Amy´s body was begging for more rest after weeks without any.

"Screw job." She said in a sleepy state, trying to catch her sleep again. However, some *Thud* sound woke her up. Amy jumped on her bed, falling from it. She observed the door that led outside of her room. She initially thought that maybe, it was just her imagination, but after that she heard something. It was silent, barely audible but she was confident there was something out there. So she grabbed her hammer and tiptoed her way to the door.

After this point she didn't hear anything else, so she just opened the door and jumped into action, swinging her hammer wildly, trying to hit anything and everything, all while she shouted nonsense. It was short lived as she noticed some shadow moving around, followed by a pink blade appearing just centimeters from her neck, followed by the words "Don't move", finishing with the feeling that her hammer had suddenly gotten heavier.

Amy´s blood froze as she noticed the blade, but a second later, she realized she knew who it belongs to. A look at the hammer betrayed a certain female Echidna that came with them from the Twilight Cage, balancing herself on Amy´s hammer with a single hand while holding the knife with the other. She let go a held air, relaxing herself as Shade jumped from the hammer and landed on the floor.

Shade looked like she had been up for a while; already wearing her armor and her head bandage, no sleepy looks on her face, probably in very sharp contrast with her since she was wearing a large sky-blue shirt that reached her tights and probably a horrendous hair and face. The two things that stood out from Shade was that she was sweating, bullets of salty water running across her face and that she was wearing vibrant pink ankle and wrist weights, both in her arms and legs and they were full of weights, 8 bars each. Amy´s limit was at five with noticeable struggle but Shade looked like she barely felt them.

"Amy, are you fine? I-I didn't mean to scare you; I thought something had attacked you or something bad. That's why I didn't call you or anything." Shade explained.

"Nah, I was fiiiiiiine." Amy answered; the laziness was still noticeable on her tone.

"Then, what was that crash sound?" Shade asked.

"I threw my hammer at my alarm clock."

"… What's an alarm clock?" Shade felt a little weird for asking that, imagining it was an object simply not use in her home place.

"It is a little clock that rings at a certain time, meaning to wake me up."

"… But if it was meant to wake you up, why did you destroy it?" Shade genuinely asked, not understanding her thought process.

Amy, admittedly, felt a bit silly for acting like that, after the way Shade put it. "Never mind." She answered, trying to hide her shame. "Anyway, what are you doing up so early? I thought you would want to rest for a little longer." Amy changed the subject.

"I couldn't. Woke up and felt like I had to use the time somehow. I then noticed your weighted gear. Do you mind?" Shade asked.

"Not really." Amy said. "Thought I am impressed, you are using as much weight as that thing can hold."

"Really?" Shade asked, eyeing the weights. "I had to put all this weights to feel some struggle. Back in the Twilight cage, we trained with heavier weights." Shade said, taking a look at the weighted stuff.

Amy was surprised, and a little intimidated by the fact that her people trained with much heavier handicaps than what Amy handled. The hedgehog started pulling her arms up, stretching them. "Well, now that I am up, I think a little workout wouldn't hurt." Amy said as more and more of their joints popped up. "I imagine my apartment was too small for you. How about we go for a run?" Amy said.

"Sounds nice." Shade stated.

Amy then asked to give her a minute, returning to her room and changing to a pink sleeveless pink shirt and a black tight workout short, as well of some running shoes. She also came with a black vest, with some small bags on it. "Here. This vest has more bags to pack weights, so it should be more suitable for you. I also have more weights over here." Amy said.

"That´s great. Thank you." Shade replied, taking it and putting it on immediately. However, the looks that Amy was giving her bothered her a bit. "Is there a problem?"

"Do you want to change into something more comfortable? I have extra clothing that I think would fit you." Amy suggested.

Shade took a look at herself. She was still wearing her nocturne armor. Since Amy met her, she had never changed it, with exception of her helmet. "I guess wearing my armor would look suspicious." She admitted. A second later, the armor retracted itself, all the black cloth covering her body going to her metal silver wrists. Even her gloves were gone. And Amy couldn't help but see her body in awe.

The echidna was incredibly fit: you could visibly see muscles over her arms and legs, as well of noticeable abs and a strong ripped back with certain movements. But she was just that, ripped, they were small and womanly attractive. Amy was a little curvier and bustier than Shade, but the hedgehog imagined that people would find her sexy. What wasn't as sexy (or maybe sexier depending on who you ask) were the nasty cut scars all over her body, probably born from training or exercises, only adding to how terrifying the Nocturne´s lifestyle really was. Also, Shade was nude, not wearing anything else below her armor.

"Amy… about those clothes…" Amy´s train of thought was interrupted by this. She could visibly notice Shade´s shame, now that she was nude, trying her best to hide her more private areas.

"Right. Right. Give me a minute." Amy said, running to her room again. She returned with a set of workout clothes, a pair of white shorts and a black tank top. Shade took them without much fuss. "Wait, you aren't wearing any underwear." She said, bringing some to her.

"… Why do I need that?" Shade asked again.

"You put it on your boobs and pelvis. It is for protection and for modesty. A bit of extra clothing prevents from getting looks from other people." Amy answered, while handing them to her.

"So this will make me stealthier?" Shade asked, not seeing the logic on that.

"...Not in the way you think." Amy admitted. Shade then put the underwear… over the workout clothes. "Nononono. It goes in." Amy said, pulling both the upper parts of her shirt and pants, showing her own underwear.

Shade looked a bit shocked, followed by ashamed by making such a mistake. Amy just giggled a bit. *She really is from another dimension.* Amy thought.

* * *

 _Sometime later._

So, the girls started running around the block, several laps. However…

"On your left." Shade said, passing Amy again, a little short of breath.

"Oh, c'mon!" Amy whined, much shorter of breath than her.

Shade was wearing much heavier equipment, but she had passed Amy for the fourth time right now. Shade got lost from Amy´s vision at the last corner. Amy kept going, finally reaching the corner just like her. To Amy surprise, Shade had stopped, using the wall as support, while visibly struggling for air. Amy ran to her side, even if her legs were killing her.

"Shade, what's the matter?"

"I just… need to catch my breath." Shade said, with much more breathing difficulty than before.

"… Let's head home. I will make you a breakfast like anything you have ever tasted!" Amy stated, trying to lift her spirits again, as well of trying to hide her concern for her.

"…Ok." Shade answered, weakly. Amy took the lead, while the echidna followed her silently. However, her vision suddenly blurred, her balance feeling odd. Before she knew it everything went dark.

*Thud.* Amy heard behind her, a shiver going down her spine. She turned around, noticing the echidna on the floor. "Shade!"

* * *

Authors note: Soooo, this over here is meant to be a much shorter story than Many Years Later. Just a little idea bunny messing with my head, one of many that are bothering me lately. I don´t know when I will upload next. I think that´s all for now.


	2. Wakey Wakey

Bed, it was something that he never thought he would miss so much. Despite not knowing his parents, having to fight in wars since the age of eight and having to, pretty much, build everything he has ever owned with his own two hands from scraps, he always had a bed, warm-ish food as well as people who would defend and help him if he was not strong enough. And boy he wasn't when he was little. He hated to admit it but he had taken it for granted. Not anymore. Not after the last crazy adventure across dimensions.

Tails body had woken up a few times during the morning, but he would lift his head and then let it fall again, letting himself go to Morpheus realm. It had happened at least three times that day. A part of him wanted to wake up. If you are fast asleep, you simply cannot do anything else, but a bigger part of him got the better of him. He planned to keep like this, possibly until the night. But, his plan was interrupted by a very loud scream and what sounded like a car crashing against a wall.

Tails fell from his bed, in panic. *What was that? Eggman?! The Nocturnes?! Something else?!* His mind raced, as he ran to the closest computer. He lit it, checked his surveillance cameras and found a pink hedgehog and her destructive hammer, forcing her entrance into his house. Relief, with a speck of frustration, bathed the fox: Amy was, usually, inoffensive, but did she had to break in the hard way instead of just waiting for him to open? Then, he noticed her carrying the unconscious echidna and any thought of anger went away, replaced by concern again.

Amy finally entered and Tails met her in the main room. "What happened? Were you attack?" Tails asked.

"No, we were just running and then she fainted. Out of nowhere." Amy answered.

"Come." Tails said, taking the lead and directing them into the nursery. The young fox was obviously no doctor, but his machines should be able to determine whatever was wrong with the echidna and, possibly, treat it themselves.

Amy put Shade on the bed carefully, while Tails introduced some instructions into one of the nearby machines. When he was done, a green light started flowing on the echidna, analyzing her. However, it was unable to finish when the nocturne armour emerged out of nowhere, covered her.

"What…" Both awake anthros weren't even able to finish the sentence, as the machine that Tails had activated to analyze her made a *bzzt* sound, followed by a small explosion. Both of them gasped in surprise, but things were just getting started: the bulb lights followed, one by one, blow up too.

Amy and Tails took refuge under a table, clasping their ears as more and more machines kept blowing up at the surroundings. A good minute went on before the explosions seemingly stopped. Still not convinced, they waited for a second before leaving their heaven, stepping carefully as pieces of glass and trash covered the floor.

"What just happened?" Amy asked, observing Tails open and check one of his machines.

He tinkered a bit with it, but visible sparks coming from it made him protect his eyes, as well of step away from it. "Everything was fried. An EMP?" Tails wondered, a hand on his chin.

"That's fine and all, but what about Shade?!" Amy asked.

 _Sometime later_

"Knuckles! Knuckles!" Both Amy and Tails shouted, but the echidna did not even move at all.

While Tails machines were obliterated, he didn't need too much time to patch up a plane and take them to Angel island. The idea was that, unable to take her to a hospital or getting her out of the suit, their best bet would be taking her to Knuckles, since he was also an echidna and could serve as a point of comparison. However, the plan was going down the gutter so far. The echidna's sleep was too deep for them to wake it up like this.

Tails started shaking him, but he simply couldn't be bothered enough. "This is getting us nowhere!" Amy shouted, pulling her hammer out. Tails immediately backtracked, wanting to avoid being at the hammers reach. Amy hit the echidna with a horizontal swing, sending him flying into the stairs of the master emerald "Wake up! You idiot!" She shouted.

Knuckles had been hit with such force that he bounced back from the stairs, getting again on Amys reach, only to be hit again by her, repeating the process. Knuckles woke up during the first hit, but it wasn't until the third one that he could recognize his surroundings and broke the cicle, gliding just enough to avoid the fourth hit. Once he landed, he wasted no time to throw himself at Amy, pinning her to the floor.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Knuckles snapped. Then, he quickly lifted himself from the hedgehog, standing up, almost as if his brain hadn't realize, until now, that she was a girl.

"We needed help." Tails interrupted.

"How does that justify getting hit like this?!" Knuckles shouted.

"Look, right now, Shade is knocked out and she needs your help. So go help her, now." Amy took the control of the situation, pointing Knuckles with her finger, as well of invading his space. Knuckles inclined his body away from Amy. A second later, only one word of what Amy said really mattered.

"Wait, what happened to Shade?!" Knuckles asked, the thought taking over him. They wasted no time on taking the echidna out of the airplane. "What happened? Was she attacked? By who?" He asked quickly, not letting them answer any question.

"Calm down. We were just running, and then she collapsed." Amy stated.

"People don't just collapse!" Knuckles shouted.

"Look, we tried to find out what was going on with her. Her nocturne armor fried my equipment. You are an echidna so we thought that it would be best for you to give us an opinion on what is going on." Tails explained.

"Tails, you are a genius, shouldn't you know what to do?" Knuckles asked.

"MECHANIC genius." He clarified. "Why does everyone believe I know the answer to every problem?" He whispered, slightly annoyed.

Knuckles then put a hand on his chin, trying to think what to do. But his head started to hurt with the struggle, forcing him to put both arms on it. *Good, I hate when I can't just punch my way out of a problem. And today of all days! What are they thinking?! Just thinking this is tiring me!* the thoughts crossed his mind. But then, it landed on him.

"Wait a minute, since when is she awake?" Knuckles asked. Both Tails and him looked at Amy, who looked nervous for a moment.

"I-I don't know. She was up before me. I woke around seven AM." Amy explained.

Knuckles observed at her, before moving away. He came back with a bowl and a gallon, both full of water. Then, he let go the bowl of water on the sleeping echina, without saying a word or explanation. Tails and Amy only looked at her with surprise, not understanding what was going on. A second later, Shade woke up, pissed.

"SCYLLAA!" Shade shouted pissed, before noticing that she was not back at the Twilight Cage. She was somewhat taken aback by the lush greens surrounding her, but when she noticed the somewhat familiar faces of her partners in the last adventure that she eased up. Meanwhile, the fox and the hedgehog were agape: They knew their best bet was another echidna but, honestly, they didn't expect he would get results this easily or fast.

Knuckles then offered the gallon of water and, suddenly, Shade felt extremely thirsty. Lowering her armour and taking it from his hands in that instant and drinking down the whole thing in a manner of seconds and without another breathe. Then, she sighed satisfied. "Thank you." Shade expressed. "But, what happened?"

"You just fell to the ground out cold." Amy answered.

"I don't just fall out cold." Shade replied, with a very serious expression.

"You were tired." Knuckles answered.

"I wasn't that tired." Shade negated.

"Yeah, we know that's, like your thing: You overexert yourself on a regular basis. But we just came back from the crazy future whatever thingy. All of us are still tired but you are exerting yourself like it was any other day. Add the new ambience of this world to add more pressure on your body and seeing you falling down shouldn't be too hard." Knuckles answered.

Now the other three guys looked at him with disbelief. Thinking that his explanation was too detailed for him. "What?" Knuckles asked, unaware of what was going on their minds.

"How do you know all this?" Tails asked.

"When I had to leave the island for the first time, and got on the lower world, I almost lost consciousness too, thanks to the gas the cars and other stuff spit. But even away from them, most of the air feels heavy and bad."

"Any gas shouldn't affect me that bad thanks to my…" Shade started, but stopped because she realized something. "…Oh right. I turned off my armor. It makes sense." She admitted, realizing that Knuckles was right all along.

"Wait, Knuckles is right?" Amy asked with disbelief.

"What do you mean by that?!" Knuckles shouted.

"It is just that you are the dumb one." She admitted.

"I am not dumb!"

"You get tricked by Eggman regularly."

"No, I don't!" He tried to convince.

"You really get tricked easily." Tails joined the conversation.

"Not now Tails!" Knuckles answered, increasingly angrier.

"It seems you are smarter than people give you credit for." Shade said.

"NOT YOU TOO SHADE!" Knuckles shouted at the echidna woman, without really processing what she said. Shade only answered by lifting an eyebrow, her looks still cold and in control. Five seconds went away before Knuckles realized what happened. "Wait a minute." Knuckles said in a much lower tone, realizing that he had just screwed it.

This made both Amy and Tails to laugh at him, which only flustered Knuckles further. "CUT IT OUT!" Knuckles shouted again, starting to look redder than normal.

At that moment, there was a small sound, low and short, something mostly undetectable. It was like letting air flow through your nose, three times. But Knuckles thought he heard it. He looked behind; the only person behind him was Shade, looking as serious as ever. "Did you just chuckle?" He asked.

"No, I didn't." Shade answered, convincingly.

"Are you sure?"

"How would I not be sure if I chuckled or not?"

"You may not know what a chuckle is."

"I am serious. Not stupid."

This exchange went on for a while, with Amy and Tails only looking, their eyes moving side to side to whoever was talking at the moment. And there was a thought growing on Amy the more she observed, a smile growing bigger and bigger by the second. "Give us a minute." Amy shouted, dragging Tails by the arm, both losing themselves into the distance. And both echidnas felt that was weird.

"Is Amy all right?" Shade asked Knuckles.

"You tell me." Was all that Knuckles answered.

Meanwhile, Tails whined while Amy dragged him. Until they came to a sudden stop. "Ow." Was all that the fox could say, petting his sore arm.

"Sorry Tails, but I need your help for something very important." Amy stated, searching for something in the tornado.

"And what is that?" Tails growled.

"Love!" She said, beaming happiness, while pulling out a mistletoe. Tails panicked, thinking that the girl might do something crazy to him. She seemed to notice his discomfort. "I mean we are going to help Knuckles and Shade fall in love with one another." She explained.

Now Tails was even more concerned. "Amy, I don't think any of them are interested." Tails tried to reason with her, with no avail.

"Nonsense, they are made for one another." She continued. "AND WITH CHAOS AS MY… WHATEVER YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO SAY HERE, I SWEAR THAT THOSE TWO WILL BECOME A COUPLE! OR MY NAME ISN'T AMY ROSE!" She screamed to the sky, fire and determination coming from her eyes.

Tails sighed. He knew they were in the no return point. Might as well get done with it. But, there was one thing he had to ask. "Do you always bring mistletoe wherever you go?"

"Of course." Amy answered.

"But it is not even December yet." Tails replied, trying to help her understand how strange this was.

"So?" Amy answered, not getting it.

Tails just sighed. "Nevermind."


	3. I ship it!

"Plan number 1!" Amy shouted excited, while wearing tons of leaves over her body and a wooden mask on her face, painted poorly with white and red, in her mind, giving her a monstrous appearance.

"Amy, are you really sure about this plan? Don't you see any problem with it?" Tails tried to suggest.

"Plan number 1!" She repeated, ignoring the young fox. He just sighed, knowing he was not going to get through her. The kid went away, knowing what he had to do.

"Shade, could you come?" Amy asked, behind some plants and hid herself behind a big three.

Shade emerged not that much later, searching and failing to find her with her eyes. "Amy?" She asked, walking a little further ahead.

"I got you!" Amy appeared, faking her voice into a deeper tone and cutting a vine at her side. The orange echidna looked up, watching a wooden cage about to fall on her. Sadly, for Amy, the echidna was too fast, able to dodge roll the box and land just in front of the masked hedgehog. "Eeep." Was all the pink girl could say, lifting both hands.

Shade wasted no time in unmasking her, revealing Amy. "Amy?" Shade asked in confusion, to what the hedgehog answered with a nervous laugh.

"Are you alright?" Knuckles came asking, just before removing a big leaf and finding Amy covered in green and Shade in front of her. Tails came just behind him and the fox could not help a panicked look at the scenery. "What is going on?"

"That's what I would like to know." Shade answered, staring right through Amy, more worried than before.

"It was just an exercise." Tails intervened, earning Shades stern stare. "Yo-yo-you know, to k-keep you sharp." The moment the stare started, the fox felt intimidated, his normal tone turned into a babble.

Shade keep her stare, shifting between the pink girl and the yellow boy. "Don't give away your location by shouting. Moreover, you should build a trap that works against your targets capabilities: I still have my warp belt so I could easily teleport away from it, or cut it with my blades or even…" She made a swipe to the planks of the box, breaking some. "…break it with ease, had the necessity arrived." She explained, professionally, almost as if she had to do it before several times.

"Yeah, yeah." Amy answered, nervously. At least her tone was more relaxed.

 _Early evening._

"Plan number 4 is ready!" Amy shouted again, this time, a cauldron was just at her side, with a soup cooking inside it.

"I think we should stop before Shade gets angry." Tails commented. "She is as scary as Shadow." He continued, shuddering.

"Cmon, at the end, loves conquers all!" She answered.

"We are back." The sound startled Amy, enough that she threw the spoon to the air with a yelp. Behind them, was Shade, looking as stoic and calm as usual.

"Where is Knuckles?" Tails asked.

"I am here." He appeared just after he asked.

"You arrived just in time!" Amy said, grabbing both echidnas by their wrists and dragging them.

"What are you up to Amy?!" Knuckles said, expecting trouble.

"Dinner!" She shouted in excitement, showing a pair of trees holding several big leaves with vines and other stuff, holding together into some kind of wall less hut. Both echidnas exchanged worried looks. Amy then dragged them into it, sitting them. "Now wait until I bring you the food." She said, lighting the only candle the table had, giving a romantic mood. "Don't you love the setting?" Amy said, in a way that anyone could tell was telling more than she was saying.

Shade observed the dim light, before pulling two of her laser daggers, which shone much brighter than candle, putting both at the edges of the table. "It was a little too dark." She explained. Amy was able to hide her disappointment, just putting her mouth in a small line. "You know, we should be serving you two while you two sit here." Shade proposed.

"We?" Knuckles asked.

"We." Shade offered, much more harsher and heavy. Knuckles didn't like the sound of that, but couldn't bring himself to reject her.

"No! You don't have to do such thing." Amy tried to convince her, but when the female echidna got up, she knew she wouldn't talk her out of this. *She is as hardheaded as Knuckles, just much scarier.* Shade put a hand on her back, pushing the hedgehog in a nice manner, and sat her down. "The soup is just there, right?"

"Yeah." Amy said, while observing Tails sitting just beside her. "This is harder than I expected." She whispered.

"I imagined it wouldn't be easy." Tails said, while putting a hand on their makeshift construction, something that proved to be a mistake, as it fell with its own weight, falling on the duos heads.

"AAAAAAHHHH." *Crash!* The echidnas heard behind and ran back to where they came from, finding both the fox and the hedgehog under the pile of leaves and wood, only their heads free.

 _A shorter time skip_

"Plan number 8." Amy whispered while observing from behind some bushes with the fox boy. In front of them, was Knuckles, holding a letter with a big drawing of Shade's head on it. The drawing was cartoony, drawn with pencils, with the eyes represented by two small half circle lines.

This new plan consisted on writing a card for each of the echidnas, where they both could read about how they were in love with each other, but were just shy to really express it out loud. Obviously, the letters were written by Amy, who hoped for them to fall in love thanks to it, like in that classic kid's movie, where the servants pulled a similar stunt for the masters of the castles. Tails kept a deadpan, knowing this wasn't going to work.

"Amy, if you would let me…" Tails started but Amy shushed him. Then, Shade appeared on the scene, holding her own letter, this one with a large drawing of Knuckles' head, the drawing been similar in style.

"Do you have one of these?" Shade asked. The red echidna only showed his. "Did you put it there where I was?" Knuckles answered no with his head. "Can you read them?"

This question took Amy by complete surprise. "No, not at all." Knuckles answered.

Then, Amy looked at her partner in crime, who had his version of 'I told you so' all over her face. "Knuckles lived alone in this island for his whole life and Shade lived in another dimension. Yes, they both know how to read echidna runic, and both speak perfect English but they likely don't use our writing system. Well, rather they don't since they proved just that." Tails explained.

"Why didn't you explain that earlier?!" Amy wasn't able to hold her volume.

"Guys." They heard Knuckles voice, really close to them. Both couldn't help a small scream when they noticed that both echidnas were just behind them. "You know, you have been acting weird the whole time. What's the deal?" He demanded.

Amy had her head low, caught and ashamed of the situation. "All right." Tails was worried, unsure what direction this might take. Then, in the blink of an eye, she grabbed both echidnas' heads and put them one in front of the other, just a few inches from bumping their noses, finishing by holding the mistletoe she had before just between them. She was extending her body as much as she could, ending in an awkward position while trying to be as far from them as possible. The fox jaw fell, refusing to get back in place, not believing she had actually done it.

"There, now you are supposed to kiss each other." She said, with a smile.

"What?!" Knuckles half shouted, reasonably flustered.

"Why?" Shade asked, much more in control.

"Because of the mistletoe!" Amy replied, as if it was the most obvious thing, forgetting who she was talking to.

"Why? Does it have some kind of mystical power or what?"

"No, it's tradition!"

"Then it is your tradition, not ours." Shade answered, with finality in her tone.

It was then that Amy's eye developed a twitch. A few seconds of silence went on before… "AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" The hedgehog girl snapped, screaming with an incredibly piercing tone. The three anthros around her had to put their hands on their ears to avoid the sound. It wasn't long before Amy lost consciousness.

"Uuuhhh, what just…?" Shade asked.

"Don't worry. I will take care of it." Tails explained, putting her arm on his shoulder.

"Don't just tell us not to worry! What was that girl thinking?!" Knuckles snapped.

"The girl saw a ship on the docks that she hoped would take off." Tails explained. Knuckles blushed, understanding the implication, while Shade was only left even more confused than before.


	4. Spirit

Tails was forced to leave the island with Amy, so that he could take her home. Shade accorded with him to meet again in a few days, mostly because Knuckles wanted her to see some of the ruins on the island. Perhaps she could see something that Knuckles couldn't, thanks to her different heritage. They were supposed to go there first thing on the morning, a promise Shade was sure he was going to keep, by her hand if necessary.

However, Shade was starting to think she would be the one to sleep in, because she wasn't able to conceal any sleep. She had a hard time managing to sleep deeper, and each time she could, she felt how it became harder to breath, how she couldn't move. It was the beginning of a nightmare, and she was able to wake up before she was too deep in it.

Before she knew it, several hours had gone by, so, thinking to use her time more effectively, she decided to exercise.

The orange girl had taken several leaves to cushion the floor. Hey, she had little problem with sleeping on the floor, but if she could, she would rather sleep more comfortable, unlike Knuckles who was sleeping on the stone stairs of the Shrine.

Without waking Knuckles up, the girl ran away, into the thick forest of the Island. The woods were mostly silent, the only thing filling them were the low noises of the insects and other small animals of the island, going in their own rhythm. The cold winds flowed through the echidna, her body shivering slightly, a small puff of white air left her mouth when she breathed. But this factors didn't deter her to slow down, or to stop using any branches her arms could grab to get more impulse or avoid an obstacle she couldn't just jump. No thinking, no worrying, nothing to even see, just spending energy, move by instinct and hope to get tired enough to sleep a little. It felt very good at the moment.

After a good while of running, the echidna stopped needing a moment to catch her breath. She noticed that the dark blue of the night was turning brighter, meaning that the night was starting to end. *A sunrise... There wasn't such a thing in the Twilight Zone.* Shade thought.

She had heard how the elders about how beautiful it was, even if they took it for granted, at least until they were trapped inside a cube of absolute darkness. Remembering this made her feel a pinch of guilt, the next thought was that she couldn't just see that spectacle. That she didn't earn it, so she turned around and decided to see if Knuckles had woken up yet.

Gasp.* "Who are you? Are you an echidna?" Shade heard behind her, making her stop dead on her tracks. From what she understood, there shouldn't be anyone else on the island. Slowly, she turned around, trying to identify the source. What she found filled her with great hope, but also with great stress, as, in front of her, was a female echidna, from the Knuckle Clan if her masters teachings on vestment were correct. She was young, wearing a white tank top and a red and green skirt, but what worried Shade the most, was that she was floating on the air, about a feet from the floor.

"Oh, thank Chaos, you are another echidna!" The floating girl put both hands on her face, exclaiming with happiness. "Do you know Knuckles? He is the only other echidna alive and he probably would be happy to meet another echidna. I bet he has felt extremely lonely being on the island without any friends or family or..." Tikal rambled on, but Shade paid no heed to her words.

The ex-nocturne moved closer to her, the words of Tikal entering on one ear and leaving the other instantly. The only thing on her mind, was to touch the echidna, to feel her, to be sure she was actually there. So, the armored girl got close to her, and then, she slowly lifted a hand and extended it to her. Tikal noticed this and stopped talking, curiosity on her face. Shade stopped a bit, just millimeters from touching the other echidna, until she finally extended just a little further and...

Her hand passed right through her. Shade's eyes opened further, the blood on her body freezing. She was paralyzed, observing the hand that just passed her. "Oh, I am an echidna spirit, so you can't touch me with normal conventions. Oh, and where are my manners? My name is Ti..." It was at this moment that the echidna girl realized, Shade had disappeared, in a moment where she got distracted. "...kal?"

Meanwhile, Shade had lost all self control and care, just running through the maze of the woods in the most inefficient and careless way, getting cut by branches that she would have otherwise avoided and even tripping from time to time into the mud, only to get up in a flash and retake the escape. Because, nothing else mattered than getting the heck out of there.

Shade had heard and seen soldiers with dementia, with varied reasons: not enough sleep, not enough food, PTSD, survivors guilt, etc. She didn't try to pin down which of all this ailments could be the one tormenting her. She just needed to get back to her makeshift bed, sleep at much as she could and hope that the hallucinations dissipated.

"Wait, don't go!" She heard again, but this time only made her exert herself more. So fast in fact that, she tripped on a root, rolled her way and, strangely, landed just on her bed of leaves, where she lay her full body into a sleeping position without wasting a second, hoping for the best. What she didn't know was that the last crash was loud enough to shake some sleep from Knuckles.

"Hello? Why are you ignoring me? I wanna be your friend!" Tikal said sadly, just a few steps away from Shade. The latter turned around on her bed, giving her the back. This only made Tikal's heart sink deeper.

She is not here. She is fake. She is a product of your own imagination.* Shade tried to convince herself. It wasn't all that successful.

"C'mon, no one tried to ignore me like you are doing! Why are you mean?!" Tikal shouted.

"What is going on?" Knuckles said, drowsily. He slowly lifted his head to the source of the noise, finding Shade on her sleeping spot and the floating other echidna. Only lifting an arm, he greeted both of them. "Hey Shade, hey Tikal. Could you tone it down?" He asked, still half asleep before closing both eyes again, hoping to fall sleep.

Wait a minute.* Shade thought. In a fraction of a second, she sped off, passing Tikal, grabbing Knuckles and shaking him violently, trying to wake him up. "Wake up, wake up, wake up." Shade said, desperately.

"Stop that!" Knuckles roared, frustrated. However, all his anger was replaced with fear the moment when he realized who he just screamed to.

Shade obeyed, realizing how out of control she was acting. She lowered the echidna, cleared her throat, and asked in a more controlled manner. "Do you know her?" Shade asked Knuckles.

Knuckles observed at the floating echidna before looking again at Shade. "Yeah, she is Tikal." He replied.

"Hiya." Tikal said, smiling.

"So, she isn't an hallucination."

"Hey!" Tikal said, offended.

"No, we both can see her." Knuckles said.

"...She could be a shared hallucination." Shade commented with low voice.

"I am not an hallucination." Tikal commented, somewhat annoyed. However, she then changed to a more gloomy tone. "I am... I was a echidna from the Knuckles tribe, at least until, I was absorbed by the Master Emerald. Now, I am only a spirit." Tikal ended.

"... I am sorry. I know how it feels to lose everything you knew." Shade admitted, trying to ease the girl up.

"Speaking of that, where are you from? Are there more echidnas out there?" Tikal asked, her eyed shinning with hope.

Shade face looked worried at the moment. "There are more... in the Twilight Cage." Shade admitted with hesitation.

Tikal eyes expanded. "You are a nocturne!?"

"She was." Knuckles interrupted. "We got caught in the Cage but Shade helped us. Sonic and the others too. I don't know what you think about the Nocturnes but Shade is not bad at all." Knuckles explained. Shade put a hand on the back of her head, feeling a little ashamed about how Knuckles talked about her.

"... I see." She answered. She then looked at Shade and bowed. "I am sorry. Our people had some issues, but if Knuckles trust you then I trust you too. No grudges?" Tikal asked.

"No. I should also apologize for what I did and said. It was rude and innadecuate."

"Speaking of that. Why did you thought she was an allucination?" Knuckles asked. Both of them poured a stare on Shade, who looked nervous.

"A combination of the circumstances: you were supposed to be the last echidna and spirits are fake. Why didn't you warm me?" Shade asked Knuckles.

"Because she was supposed to be trapped in the Emerald." Knuckles said. "How did you get out?"

Tikal only answer as a shrug with her shoulders. "Can we go and check the ruins you mentioned?" Shade interrupted.

"Oh, right." Knuckles said. He stood up and accompanied them, leaving Tikal to wonder what would happen.

 _Sometime later._

"What do you think?" Knuckles asked. He wasn't looking at the girl, who he thought was just at his side. He had taken her to the pyramid ruins, where the Master Emerald was stored, shining intensely. It was not until that moment that he searched her with sight not finding her close, but rather a few meters away.

They had been talking for a bit while Knuckles made his best to show the island. He thought that everything was ok, until now. "What?" Knuckles asked.

"Nothing. I just need a minute." She answered. She grabbed her arm, giving a weird sense of awkwardness or incommodity that Knuckles hadn't seen so far. She finally came closer, although her expression never really changed. She put her hand on the stone, noticing the carvings on it.

"Here, are the last bits of the Knuckle clan, just cold stone with big flashy shapes. I have surrounded them, checking them, trying to find something about them, about what should I do. I even met a spirit before but even she couldn't light the way." Knuckles admitted. "Maybe you can find something…" He started, turning his head at the orange girl with a smile of hope, at least until he noticed Shade more carefully.

"Huh, yeah, I-I will see…" Her voice was shaky, reason why she stopped mid-sentence, planning to continue where she was, but Knuckles interrupted her.

"Shade, you are crying."


	5. Training is painful

The two echidnas were sharing a table, each with a bowl of cut fruit, on the opposite side of the furniture. However, there was a very awkward silence between the two of them, a thick and heavy tension that bothered their breathing was evident. Knuckles looked up from time to time, looking concerned at Shade, only to avert his eyes the moment before she stared back.

This little exchange went on for a small while, at least, until the woman managed to grasp the correct timing and meet her eyes with Knuckles. Knuckles gave a tiny jump, a nervous expression appeared on his face. "Is there a problem, Knuckles?" She asked, in her usual all business form.

"Nah, nah, everything is alright. He, he." He couldn't stop the nervous laughter, really confused about what would Shade do next.

Without anything else, she stood up, took her bowl and moved away. Knuckles sighed, feeling like he could take a break.

"That was awkward." Tikal voice came and he knew he wouldn't have that break he hoped. "Is there a problem between the two of you?" She asked.

"I don't know." He said. "Then again, I can never read the girls that sometimes surround me." He also said, remembering a certain bat that continuously confused him, and Amy, who more often than not, smacked him with the hammer.

Tikal narrowed her eyes, making her own assumptions. "What idiocy did you do this time?"

"I am not an idiot!" He answered, predictably.

"Then tell me what happened."

"...Weeeell."

 _Flashback_

"Shade, you are crying." Knuckles said.

Shade eyes opened a lot, surprised, another thing that Knuckles wasn't used to. She passed her hand oon her face, feeling the salty water. Wave looked at it before disappearing in a pink light. "What the...?" Was all Knuckles could say.

The next few minutes went by as Knuckles tried to find Shade, which he did, nearby Azure Lake. From what he could deduce, she had splashed her face with water, now soaked. However, now that he found her, he didn't know what to do or say.

Luckily, he didn't had to, as Shade took the lead. "We won't talk about that. Never."

 _Flashback_

"Just like that?!" Tikal asked, with disbelief.

"Well yeah." He answered, like it was obvious.

"Why didn't you press her further?"

"Are you kidding? Shade wouldn't want that." He explained.

Tikal answered by sighing. "Look, I know I don't know her. But you do. I think she needs a friend with her right now."

"Look, I want to help Shade, I really do, but she is very reserved. I can't just go and say 'Let's talk'. That won't work."

"What if you try to closer to her?"

"What do you have in mind?"

"From what I see, she really likes exercising."

 _Time skip._

"Shade!" Knuckles shouted, once the woman was in sight. Shade turned around, wondering what could he want. "Are you tired?" For some reason, Shade thought that was a challenge.

"No Knuckles, I am ready for whatever you might throw at me." There was a bit of hostility in her tone that didn't go unnoticed to Knuckles.

"I-I see." He said nervously. "I just wanted to see if you want a training partner." He suggested. The red echidna couldn't help but think that those words made her look happier already.

"Sounds interesting, what do you have in mind?" She asked.

"I was thinking that would dictate the exercises, since I know nothing about formal training." Knuckles explained.

Shade gave him a worried look. "Are you sure? My regime is very intense." She warned him.

"Yeah, I can take it." He answered. Shade twisted her mouth, bit accepted either way. Tikal observed them from far in the sky, trying to figure out what would happen.

"Let's start with sparring then." She answered.

"Wait, as in fighting?" Knuckles asked with disbelief.

"Is there a problem?"

"Just with our fists and no weapons?"

"The one who makes the other back hit the floor first wins." She explained.

"But, what if I hurt you?" Knuckles said, concerned.

"You can try." Shade replied. She took a fighting stance. Knuckles didn't follow her.

"Shade, I will only hurt..." Knuckles started, only for the orange echidna to use the opening to punch him in the face, the strength and form of the hit enough to make him lose consciousness.

From above, Tikal gasped while putting a hand on her mouth. "One punch, one punch!" She couldn't believe it.

Shade then slapped him on the face, managing easily wake him up. "What just...?"

"Let's try that again." Shade suggested.

 _Insert your favorite silly montage music_

Knuckles threw his fist but Shade easily dodged it, grabbed his arm and threw Knuckles over her shoulder, him landing hard on his back.

He tried that again, this time Shade got wrapped on his arm, twisting it and forcing Knuckles to the floor in pain.

They stood up again, this time, the woman landed a kick on the red anthro stomach, but Knuckles answered with a headbutt. After noticing the girl flinch, he threw himself at her, pinning her to the floor.

"Gotcha!" Knuckles said, standing down after pining her.

Shade slowly stood up, smiling ear to ear, which concerned Knuckles a bit. "That's better." She admitted. Then, moving like a wheel, she closed the gap between them, wrapped her legs around his neck and, using her body weight, pushed Knuckles to the floor again.

"Grrrrr." Growing increasingly frustrated, Knuckles dug, getting outside of Shade's sight. Then, he reemerged, landing a powerful uppercut with a vicious *thuakk* sound. "How is that for better?" Knuckles challenged.

Shade smile only widen further. "Much, much better."

"...I have made a terrible mistake." Knuckles muttered afraid.

Shade felt the the metallic flavor on her mouth, deciding to spit it and jumped, bouncing between the trees that surrounded her. Impulsing herself towards Knuckles, she prepared a kick. The red man prepared to catch her, but, taking him by surprise, she teleported mid air. "What the...?" Knuckles started but was interrupted by a kick at the back.

Knuckles on the floor, turned around observing how Shade had just landed, after the kick. Then, he grabbed a tree nearby and threw it at her, which Shade dodged with ease. And, before long, the fight between them got too chaotic. Tikal put her hands on her face, not being able to see more of the chaos that was in front of her. A several minutes, the noise stopped and she took a hand away. Both echidnas were down, breathing loudly, the whole area surrounding it was barren, the trees were tosses around, there were several holes around and the patches of grass were damaged. Knuckles would be the first one to get up and slowly move to Shade. He shook her body, but she wouldn't react.

"Tikal, she is unconciouss again!" Knuckles told her.

"Oh, thank god." Tikal said with relief.

"Tikal!" Knuckles sounded offended.

"Sorry. I don't mean it." She said. "It is just that she is kind of crazy, out of herself."

"You don't know her. When things got the craziest in the future, she was the one keeping her head on her shoulders, unlike everyone else."

"The future?" Tikal asked.

"It is a very long story." Knuckles said, not wanting to get into details.

"No offense, but I think she wanted to be beaten senseless." Tikal pointed out.

"That's stupid." Knuckles thought.

 _The next day._

The red echidna was still sore after the last day, as Shade's "training" proved to be very intense workout. He didn't feel like going into training again. However, unsurprising, he could hear the grunts and strikes of a female echidna against the trees not that far from his shrine. He opened an eye, noticing that it was little over sunrise, with the sun already passing over the horizon. Knuckles wasn't planning on joining her again.

"C'mon, Knuckles, it is too soon to give up." Tikal begged.

"You go train with her!" Knuckles snapped at her.

"You know I can't." Tikal explained, squinting her eyes. Knuckles growled, pulled his dread lock spines before deciding to head out to where Shade was. "Hey." The latter turned her head to the echidna.

"Ready for more?" Shade wondered.

"...Well." Knuckles actually hoped to talk her out of it, but Shade started talking again.

"Unless, you are too tired and can't take what a girl can." Shade dissimulated her smile as best as she could. Watching Knuckles froze a second, before looking at her with defiant eyes, told her that she had hit the spot. Echidnas have a natural desire to show off their strenght, fairly easy to manipulate, and Shade had years of experience in getting them into fighting.

"Bring it!" Knuckles roared. Tikal face palmed, knowing that things were going to get nuts.

 _A little later_

"We are not fighting?" Knuckles asked, looking deflated already.

"It is better to be continuously shaking up exercises, specially ones that we are not use to. This time, one runs and the other tries to catch the first."

"We are playing tag?"

"Tag?" Shade inclined her head with curiosity.

"Yeah, run to each other until we get into contact, there is about three second where the one touches cannot tag the other, permitting the one who had it first a head start." Knuckles explained.

"More or less, but there are no boundaries, and you will get punished if you don't try to, 'tag' me as you call it." Shade explained.

"What kind of punishment?" Knuckles asked. Shade threw him one of his laser blade handles. Knuckles inspected it. It had a single button on a side.

"If you press the button, a small electric shot will be fired. We can shoot at the other if we stop trying the exercise for 3 seconds or more." She then pointed one of its tips at Knuckles and pressed the button. In a fraction of the second, a small yellow bolt crossed their distance, hitting Knuckles leg.

"Auch!" He whined, moving his leg away.. It wasn't painful exactly, but rather, annoying.

"You get to be the first to run, giving you the home advantage." Shade explained. "Five, four, three..."

"W-wait a minute." Knuckles was taken off guard, barely starting to run at that moment.

"Two, one." Shade ended and started following Knuckles. The red one was a fast one, but he lacked finesse in his movements, leaving a trail of destruction, so Shade had no problem knowing where he was going. It would only be a matter of time until he needed to stop to take a break, since Knuckles could run at Sonic's speed, but only for short bursts. Shade soon realized that Knuckles was running to the edge to the island. (He won't have anywhere to run.) She thought.

Before long, Knuckles had reached the end of the island, just as the orange woman expected. What she wasn't expecting was that Knuckles threw himself from the cliff. This surprised Shade for a second, until it occurred to her that he was stuck to the base of the floating island, using it as his escaping her. Shade pulled out a blade for each hand and inserted them below what was the end of the cliff. Then, she threw her whole body, only using her arms to hold herself. She quickly found Knuckles, who was also only using his arms to move, the rest of his body just hanging because of the gravity, unlike when he climbs up a wall where his legs could be use for support. Following a gut, Knuckles turned around and noticed that Shade was behind him, doing more or less the same as him.

"You gotta be kidding me?!" Knuckles exclaimed in frustration and disbelief.

"You are going to have to try harder if you even hope to make this interesting for me!" Shade roared. Knuckles escaped as fast as he could with just two hands, with Shade following him in a similar manner. And Tikal continued to observe, her worry for the red guy increasing.


	6. Shade Nightmare

There was that female echidna again, punching continuously a random tree. Knuckles just observed at the distance, suddenly feeling sorer than before. He and Tikal were growing more and more concerned for the nocturnus woman, both well aware that such a strenuous training could not be healthy. The two Knuckle tribe echidnas were considering their options, but considering the abrasive and difficult personality of Shade, the options looked slim. However, they were not ready to give up just yet.

'Sigh' "Here I go again." Knuckles said out loud, before walking to the nocturnus. Surprisingly, Shade had stopped, using the tree as support. It was obvious for the way her body moved that her breathing was difficult, probably too tired after her recent effort. Knuckles walked slowly, concerned about the echidna woman reactions, but still dared to put a hand on her shoulder, a serious mistake since a second after he did that, Shade body shook and then, she grabbed that arm and threw the echidna to the floor. But she was not done, as she twisted Knuckles' arm, causing him more and more pain, as she roared: "YOU WON'T TAKE ME!"

"GYAAAAA." Knuckles, as it was expected, screamed in pain.

"YOU WON'T BE TAKING ME AWAY!" Was Shade's next scream.

"Shade Shade Shade Shade Shade Shade." Knuckles repeated, over and over, his voice growing more and more shrill with each repeat, as pain took over. Luckily, this woke Shade up, enough, to realize what she was doing and release the lock on his arm. "Auuuu." He moaned, the pain finally ending.

"Knuckles... Sorry... I..." For some reason, Shade could not finish her sentences.

"I'ma OK." Knuckles replied, although his higher pitch indicated that he was still in little pain.

"Forgive me. It is not like me to lose control like that." She replied, somewhat mechanically.

"It is OK." Knuckles said, in a much natural manner. "Wanna accompany into something?"

"What do you have in mind?"

 _Five minutes later._

"Look, that one look like a chili dog." Knuckles said, trying to engage in conversation with Shade. At that moment, there where laying on a green hill without anything blocking the sky to them, so the full, somewhat cloudy sky was free for them to observe. He was honestly surprised that he was able to get her into cloud watching, but she accepted, although admitted she didn't see a point of just observing clouds. She even asked if the clouds would bring trouble in some way or if there that could attack the island and he just wanted to be alert. Knuckles was really concerned about what was she thinking at the moment.

"That doesn't look like a dog." That was not the answer he was expecting. "Also what is chili? What kind of adjective is chili?"

"No no no. 'Chili dog' is the name of food."

Now Shade looked shocked, although she was still able to talk. "Sentient or animal dogs?"

Knuckles chuckled, as he made the same question when Sonic and co invited him to lunch and offered him the food. "No no. They are made from pigs. Tails explained me."

"That barely changes the question."

"Animal."

"So what is chili? Is it made of monkey or something?"

"I think it is made of plants. Spicy plants."

"Why not 'spicy pig' then?"

"I... I don't know. I just rolled with it." Knuckles said, moving to the other side. "There is so much that I still find wear about down there." He admitted with low voice.

"I guess I am just bored... This is boring." She admitted.

"I thought you would want to relax."

"I don't want to relax." Shade admitted, sitting on her place.

"Shade..." Knuckles started, earning her attention again. "Look, I and Tikal are worried about you. You shouldn't be pushing yourself so hard." Knuckles said.

"Tikal and I." Shade corrected.

"Whatever. Look, we can offer you an ear if you want or something."

"With all due respect... I highly doubt you would understand." She admitted and left the place.

"C'mon. Even you said I am not that stupid." He said, but it landed on deaf ears. Knuckles just sighed, his concern only increasing.

After that, Shade returned to her training. But Knuckles concerns were well placed, as she herself more and more exhausted. But she could not stop. She would not stop. This was nothing.

Meanwhile, Knuckles searched for her again. He was not going to give up just like that. "Shade, come on. Just take it easy for a moment." Knuckles said, sure that the echidna woman had heard him. She had stopped her attacks for a moment, but she then returned to it like nothing had happened.

However, he did noticed that, in one of her moves, she slipped, falling head first to the floor. "Dammit, Shade!" Knuckles screamed.

"Stay! Right! There!" The orange woman screamed, stopping Knuckles dead on his tracks. The prideful woman struggled to get on her feet, only able to do so with help from the tree nearby. But it was very easy to see her legs trembling under her weight.

"Oh, for Chaos sake! Stop being so hard headed and let us help you." Knuckles was getting tired of her thickheadness.

"Don't get any closer!" Shade screamed. "I don't need your help. You are the last person I want near me!"

"What is that even supposed to mean?!" Knuckles said and put a hand on her shoulder. This, finally, made the echidna woman turn around and look at the red guy. But there was something terribly wrong in her eyes, as she looked like she had seen a ghost.

Without any signal, Shade lit one of her laser blades and tried to slash Knuckles' face off. The latter stepped away, managing to avoid a deadly blow, but now he had a new cut on his chin, making it bleed a little. "What the...?" He let go. Initially, his brain thought that maybe, just maybe, this was training, but the next act of Shade was throwing a small black ball, which exploded, blasting the echidna further. The shock sent Knuckles flying further, spinning, but he still was not free as the echidna woman threw several more of her daggers, aiming to continue harming Knuckles.

In mid flight, the red echidna managed to glide, gaining enough control to make the fatal blades only graze him, but next, the femme fatale teleported, rose her leg and let it fall on his head, hard, making him crash and bounce to the floor. Knuckles felt a bit of his mind going away, but he was not down for the count yet, spinning back to his feet as he landed.

However, the nocturne had moved again, jumping head first with the blade on her arm against Knuckles. However, the red anthro would fight back and managed to answer with a punch to her chin. He made sure that the blow would not be able to kill her, but still strong enough to send her flying a few meters. However, now there was this horrible burning sensation growing on his right arm, accompanied with a draining feeling, making him wince and feel weaker by the second. Looking at his arm, he observed how one of the nocturne's laser blades had pierced his arm. Knuckles knew very well that it was a red flag and tossed it away, well aware of its energy draining properties.

However, the second he threw it away, that same second Shade introduced three more in his back, causing even more weakness. But he could not think about that as Shade next delivered a kick to his face. Right after that, the woman pushed herself and threw her whole body against his torso crashing against him, while also introducing two more blades on his sides of his torso.

The push forced Knuckles to the floor and Shade then teleported, gained altitude and crashed against the red guy, who energy was so low that he could barely move at all, unable to dodge it. But she was not done as she introduced two more blades against Knuckles' chest. Meanwhile, Tikal could only observe the assault, her hands on her mouth in panic.

Shade grabbed Knuckles by the head, and lifted it just a little, for him to meet eye to eye. "Shade stop!" Was all Tikal could say. And Shade observed her back, the fury back scaring the life out of Tikal.

"Don't move. I know this is not your fault." Shade stare softened to Tikal, as well of her speech, but then her eyes moved over to Knuckles, filled with rage again. "How many more do you have to bring to your senseless crusade?! When will you be satisfied?!" Shade snapped. There was something wrong with the way she expressed, as far as Knuckles could tell. She was never this... emotional. Even he could see that, whatever was going on with her, was personal.

"Shade... Stop!" It was all he could say with the little strength remaining.

"Don't change the subject!" Her screaming and questioning continued.

"Knuckles!" Tikal screamed again, moving an inch. Then Shade, with her free hand, put a blade against Knuckles neck, stopping Tikal dead on her tracks.

"Don't you see the damage you do to others!? Those willing to follow you to any lengths?! You are monster!" She screamed again. After that, it seemed that some of her fury had being quelled, as she retook her questioning at a lower tone. "What is your plan?" She waited for about ten seconds. "Where are the rest of the echidnas?" Another ten seconds later. "Answer!" She continuously shook Knuckles, apparently oblivious to the fact that he had lost consciousness, his eyes closed. "Stop playing you monster!" She screamed again, slapping him on the face. But, because that did not generate any reaction, she repeated it. And again. And again. And again.

Tikal observed terrorized, scared. She knew that Knuckles was down for the count, and that she was the only sentient being with them in miles of distance. But how could she help? She didn't even have a physical body. She could not, directly interact with anything because of that. Then it landed on her. Directly she could not, but how about indirectly?

There was this Knuckle tribe skill that let them move rocks with their minds. Terra-kinesis. She had little training on the activity, but it should suffice. As Shade continued to scream demands, she mentally lifted a head size rock and threw it directly at her, with enough speed that Shade was pushed off Knuckles. So, hoping Shade was at least down for a moment and she concentrated on grabbing another rock and smacking a blade away. "One down, six to go." She said out loud. She was ready to lunch a second rock when she noticed a dark figure going high into the sky. It was Shade, throwing more of her laser blades. "Eeep!" Tikal let go panicking a bit. However, she took control again, just in time to move some of the floor below Knuckles and block the three daggers.

Shade answered by throwing two explosive balls, at different moments. The first one blew up at the small rock formation, the crumbling earth falling on Knuckles. The second bomb, thrown about a second later was meant to blow up Knuckles. The second bomb was significantly bigger, generating a much louder and larger blasting radius. In the end, a rather big crater was all that was left.

Tikal could not help but think she had failed: She had used her powers to command the earth to, literally eat Knuckles, thinking that would be the safest place for him. But she was not sure if he had made it deep enough that the explosive didn't reach him. "Where is he?!" Tikal, lost in her thoughts, did not perceive that Shade had changed objectives and gone after Tikal. Now, the spirit attention was on the nocturne woman, just centimeters from crashing against her and start a flurry of attacks, at least that what she expected.

Tikal closed her eyes, brazed for impact and... *Bang* Tikal heard behind her. The spirit opened her eyes, noticing that Shade had crashed against the tree behind her, apparently unconscious. (Oh, right. She cannot touch me.) The girl remembered.

Tikal concentrated on opening the earth, but not before eyeing Shade one last time, thinking of the possibility that she was not unconscious. Once that was checked, she split part of the earth and, she thanked Chaos as Knuckles body was still in one piece, unconscious, but alive. Still, she had to remove each and every one of the daggers inserted in the male echidna. It was at that moment that she realized that her control over the earth was stronger than usual, managing to move the earth easily. She was not this skilled in this ability, yet, now moving big pieces of earth as hands was effortless. And soon Knuckles was safe.

 _Nighttime_

Tikal was not sure what kind of effect would have in waking up Knuckles from his slumber, but she thought that it was better to leave him be. And after a few hours, the red anthro woke up. He tried to stand up, but his body didn't respond as he expected, barely having enough strength to push himself to sit. And the knocked out echidna appeared on his range of sight. "Shade." He said softly, before remembering how she beaten him up badly. Knuckles then felt some frustration, as Shade had overpowered him in a blink of an eye. She had never done that before.

But then it landed on him. Why was she knocked down? How that happened? "Tikal!" He screamed.

"I am right here." The girl said, earning his attention. She was stabbing her ear, in pain for the last scream. "As for what happened, she beat you down..." Knuckles could not help but grit his teeth. "... And started questioning you without making much sense. Heck, she even looked at me, but it was only personal with you." Tikal explained. Knuckles looked puzzled for a moment, but it was what Tikal said next that made him worry. "...She was going to kill you. Without any remorse."

Knuckles could not help but swallow a large lump that had formed on his throat. At that moment, both of them looked at where Shade was unconscious... and there was no one there anymore. Knuckles stood up in a jump, though he then grimaced, his legs burning hard for a moment. "Dammit, she could be anywhere." He said.

"Actually..." Tikal said. "I have been testing my terra-kinesis. For some reason, it is much stronger than any echidna I ever knew, so much that I feel her moving, as long as she is touching earth."

"Don't loose her!" Knuckles said, starting to run, even with the pain.

 _A few meters away._

Shade was mostly dragging herself away, her legs not letting her to do more. She was tired and knew that she would lose consciousness soon. But that did not matter, because she had arrived to her destination. In front of her, was an edge of the island. She did not like this idea, but there was no other way: The thing she valued the most about her, was control, discipline, her level headiness in any situation. But she could not rely in herself or what she observed anymore. So, without waiting anymore, she let herself go... and hit the floor. Shade pushed her head up, feeling the rock below her, even though a second before she could have swore she was at the tip of the island. (I must be at a worse state than I thought.)

None the less, she tried again, at least until Knuckles grabbed her by the shoulders and threw her, away from the cliff. Shade tried to land on her feat, but she tripped on the landing and fell on her butt. Now, the red echidna stood on her way.

"Knuckles. If you know what is good to you, step away."

"Yeah, no. Not until we know what the hell is going on."

"... You know what happened: I attacked you. I could have killed you. Tikal stopped me. But who knows what will I do next time?"

"We know that. But why?" Knuckles asked. Tikal observed in the distance. She wanted to intervene, but she did not know about the history that Shade and Knuckle had, which, from the way they talked, seemed to be longer than she imagined.

Shade looked directly at Knuckles. She wanted to just pass by him and end her business, but she was well aware of Knuckles' adamant nature. She could normally pass him with her acrobatics, but she was too tired to do so. She knew that she was overpowered this time. "... I thought you were Ix."

Knuckles blinked twice. "Why?! I mean, how?!" He asked, like offended. He could not imagine how Shade confused him for that white echidna.

"I don't know!" Shade answered. "I just did. I thought he had somehow escaped the Twilight Cage and ready for a new plan to take over the world. I didn't want to take any chances." Shade admitted.

Knuckles gave it some thought. "I guess that makes sense. Earlier today, you twisted my arm so violently because you thought I was Ix too." Knuckles deduced.

But Shade remained silent and from what the echidnas could tell, nervous. "That was something else." She admitted.

The Knuckle clan echidna exchanged looks. Knuckles then sighed. "Can we stop being so cryptic and get a straight answer?!" It was clear that Knuckles was at the end of his patience.

"...My execution." Shade found it difficult to find her voice, looking down. And the other two were reasonably surprised by her confession.

Surprisingly, the male anthro took the iniciative and put both his hands on her shoulders. Shade looked up, looking at him with confusion. "Don't worry. Look, we know how dangerous the nocturne were but we beat them before and we can beat them again. I promise." Knuckles tried to reassure.

What he did not know is that he was making Shade felt worse. Making her feel even less worthy than before. She brushed his arms off and took a few steps away from her. She looked back at Knuckles, who looked somewhat offended by her last action. "Great, now what did I do wrong?!" He complained, tired of never understanding how to handle woman.

"You did nothing wrong!" Shade screamed back.

"Then what?!"

Shade took air, trying to ease herself. "I was ready to be killed by my ex-companions. But what the hand on my shoulder was trying to do was taking me away from my execution."

"...WHAT?!"


	7. Let it go

_Earlier that day_.

" _Shaaaade."_ The echidna woman said, but she ignored it. However, even if she didn't want to, the woman saw a figure in the distance, only through the sides of her eyes. " _Shaaaadeee."_ She heard again, much closer. She continued with what she was doing, but more figures appeared at the edge of her range of view, getting closer. She could make the form of them more clearly. They were nocturnes. " _Shaaaaddeeeeeee."_ She didn't know when it happened, but suddenly, everything was dark, with no visible light around. And yet, there were nocturnes surrounding her, looking clearly as day. After a moment, the blue light they all possess on their armours turned red, the light completely bathing Shade. Then, came another nocturne, a nocturne Decurion, flying above them.

Shade knew what that meant. She sat on her legs and lowered her head a bit. Then, the Decurion let himself go. She didn't need to look up to know he was coming fast at incredible speeds, with both its blades extended, aiming to hit Shade right on her neck, to finish her in a fast and painless action.

"Shade!" The echidna woman felt a hand on her shoulder, pulling her back.

(NO! You can't do it! This has to be done!) Shade thought, believing that someone, whoever it was, wanted to get her from her comeuppance. But she wasn't going to just let it play. She grabbed the hand and threw him/her over her shoulder. Without loosing a moment, she grabbed that person arm and started to twist it, while screaming: "YOU WON'T TAKE ME AWAY." It was not until a few moments later that the voice of Knuckles became more and more clear, until she got back to her senses.

 _Back to the present_

Both Knuckles and Tikal were not expecting such an answer.

"But... but why?" Tikal asked, barely shaking off the shock.

"Because that is what I deserve."

"No no no..." Knuckles tried to interrupt but Shade beat him to it.

"Oh, shut it Knuckles!" Shade said, making the male echidna shut up. "You don't understand it! You **can't** understand it!" She said.

"Try me!" Knuckles challenged.

"It is not a point of trying or you being stupid..."

"Hey!"

"...The whole point is that you have always lived here alone!"

(Geez, thanks for reminding me that) Knuckles thought, but refused to voice his opinion. He thought it was better to stop for a moment and just listen.

"Do you understand what is like to be part of a society that only wanted freedom, from an eternal prison, without any light or much warmth? Do you know how much that people desired for freedom? Do you know how much that people looked up to me?" What started as a bunch of screams soon diminished in strength, as her confidence in herself dwindle. "Have you ever have the eyes of the little ones, full with hope looking at you, cling at you, because of the small possibility of freedom? Do you know how your partners and underlings look at you, those eyes that say: 'You can do with my life as you wish, because I trust you that much.'?"

At that point, the nocturne woman started to shake visibly, as her voice was a little below a normal voice. "Honestly, I barely thought about this until now: When Ix revealed his real plan to conquer your world instead of just setting us free, I knew I could not take away the freedom from other people for the sake of ours. After that, with one emergency after the other, there was no time to stop and reconsider my decision."

At that point, she could no longer look at the other echidnas, so she turned around, again looking to a void spot, directly to the sky. At this point, her voice was little more than a whisper. "Everything I did, was for the Nocturnes. But now, I am gone and everyone else is still trapped in there. I am the only one with freedom, into this beautiful and wonderful world. I don't deserve it. I shouldn't be free while everyone who counted on me isn't." She said. Finally she lowered her head.

"I would like to think that I don't know what they think about me... But I know it well: I am a traitor, one that saw an easy way out and decided to take it, abandoning everything I represented and fought for." Shade said.

Knuckles and Tikal exchanged looks, as if asking the other what to do. To her surprise, Knuckles too the initiative, getting closer to Tikal and hugging her from behind. Thankfully, Shade was too surprised to act defensively. "I am sorry. But if it means anything... I think you are awesome." Knuckles said.

There was a bit of silence then, but suddenly, Knuckles felt her shake in moments, two shakes a time, as well of some liquid fell on his arm. Next, he started to hear a growing weeping, as more and more liquid fell. The red echidna understood that Shade was crying and wanted to leave at that exact moment: He did not know how to handle tears at all.

Knuckles looked at the spirit, with a nervous and confused face, but Tikal signaled him to not let her go. Meanwhile, her weeping became cries and screams, as if she had never being able to leave them out. As if she had them inside her for years, but was never able to let go, to be vulnerable. Knuckles heard this, more nervous for a moment, but relaxed himself, and let her continue until she felt better.

* * *

Author note: So, this was more or less the origin of the fanfic: To make that Steven Universe moment about how Pearl still missed Rose and Steven reassured her. Not precisely the same because it did not felt right.

Also, can't help but think Knuckles is somewhat out of character. Just two or three more chapters to go.


End file.
